This publication presents estimates from the 2010 Survey of Motor Vehicle Use (SMVU). It contains statistics on passenger vehicle, motor cycle, truck and bus use for characteristics such as distance travelled, tonne-kilometres and fuel consumption.

The data were collected in four quarterly sample surveys conducted by the Australian Bureau of Statistics (ABS) over the period 1 November 2009 to 31 October 2010.

RECOMMENCEMENT OF THE SURVEY OF MOTOR VEHICLE USE

This publication is the first release since the survey was discontinued in January 2008. The next survey will be conducted for the 2011-2012 financial year and then biennially (every two years). For more information refer to the Information Paper: Changes to the Survey of Motor Vehicle Use, 12 months ended 31 October 2010 (cat. no. 9208.0.55.006).

COMPARISONS WITH PREVIOUS SURVEY RESULTS

This survey has been designed to provide a measure of total distance travelled and tonne-kilometres for each state/territory of registration by type of vehicle. While comparisons are made between 2010 survey results and earlier iterations of the SMVU, the survey has not been designed to provide accurate estimates of change.

Care should be taken in drawing inferences from changes in data over time as movements may be subject to high relative standard errors and the resulting estimates of movements may not be considered statistically significant. See Explanatory Notes paragraph 14.

Additional information about the reliability of the level and movement estimates is given in the Technical Note.

INQUIRIES

For further information about these and related statistics, contact the National Information and Referral Service on 1300 135 070.

SUMMARY COMMENTARY

NUMBER OF VEHICLES

In the 12 months ended 31 October 2010 there were an estimated 16.0 million vehicles registered in Australia compared with 14.4 million in the 12 months ended 31 October 2006.

In 2010, passenger vehicles made up 76.9% of all registered vehicles, compared with 78.5% in 2006. Freight vehicles accounted for 18.4% in 2010 with the remainder (4.7%) comprising buses, motor cycles and non-freight carrying trucks. Ofthe freight vehicles, 82.6% were light commercial vehicles, 14.7% were rigid trucks and 2.8% were articulated trucks.

KILOMETRES TRAVELLED

Motor vehicles in Australia travelled an estimated 226,632 million kilometres in 2010. While the distance travelled increased by 8.2% compared with 2006, the number of vehicles increased by 11.8% over this time.

The state/territory proportion of total kilometres travelled is closely related to the number of registered vehicles in each state/territory. New South Wales had the largest share of total kilometres travelled (29.4%) and the largest number of registered vehicles.

Proportion of vehicles and total kilometres travelled, State/territory of registration-Year ended 31 October 2010

Motor vehicles registered in Australia travelled an average of 14,100 kilometres per vehicle in 2010. Vehicles registered in Victoria and Northern Territory travelled the highest number of average kilometres (14,600 kilometres), while vehicles registered in South Australia travelled the lowest number of average kilometres (11,900). Of all vehicle types, articulated trucks had the highest average kilometres (85,000).

Average kilometres travelled, Motor vehicles by state/territory of registration - Year ended 31 October 2010

Passenger vehicles accounted for 72.1% of the total distance travelled in 2010. In comparison, the proportion travelled by passenger vehicles in 2006 was 74.6%.

Of the total kilometres travelled by passenger vehicles in 2010, 50.6% was for personal and other use. The remaining kilometres travelled by passenger vehicles comprised travel to and from work (26.8%) and business use (22.7%).

Freight carrying vehicles accounted for 25.9% of the total kilometres travelled in 2010. Of the 58,643 million kilometres travelled by freight carrying vehicles, light commercial vehicles accounted for 72.8% of the kilometres travelled, followed by rigid trucks (15.4%), and articulated trucks (11.8%).

TONNE-KILOMETRES

In 2010, total tonne-kilometres travelled by freight vehicles in Australia was 185,911 million. Of this, articulated trucks accounted for 77.6% followed by rigid trucks (18.5%) and light commercial vehicles (3.9%).

By comparison, in 2006, freight vehicles travelled a total of 167,935 million tonne-kilometres. Articulated trucks accounted for 76.8%, followed by rigid trucks (18.5%) and light commercial vehicles (4.4%).

Total tonnes-kilometres travelled, Type of vehicle - Years ended 31 October 2006 and 31 October 2010

In 2010, articulated trucks travelled an average of 1.9 million tonne-kilometres. In comparison, rigid trucks and light commercial vehicles travelled an average of 92,600 and 5,600 tonne-kilometres, respectively.

There were 144,237 million tonne-kilometres travelled by articulated trucks in 2010. Of those, articulated trucks with a Gross Combination Mass (GCM) of over 40 tonnes accounted for 95.1% of the total tonne-kilometres travelled.

State/territory of operation

In 2010, the most tonne-kilometres travelled by freight vehicles were in New South Wales (56,918 million), followed by Queensland (39,614 million).

Over the period 2006 to 2010, tonne-kilometres travelled by freight vehicles in Western Australia increased by 46.1% (9,749 million). This was the largest percentage increase for any state or territory.

Total tonne-kilometres travelled by freight vehicles, State of operation-Years ended 31 October 2006 and 31 October 2010

TONNE-KILOMETRES TRAVELLED BY FREIGHT VEHICLES, State/territory of operation - Years ended 31 October 2006 and 31 October 2010

2006

2010

Change from 2006 to 2010

mill.

mill.

%

Total tonne-kilometres travelled

New South Wales

52 259

56 918

8.9

Victoria

34 726

37 405

7.7

Queensland

39 440

39 614

0.4

South Australia

13 692

14 519

6.0

Western Australia

21 129

30 878

46.1

Tasmania

2 875

3 378

17.5

Northern Territory

3 300

2 710

-17.9

Australian Capital Territory

515

489

-5.0

Australia

167 935

185 911

10.7

FUEL CONSUMPTION

In 2010, registered motor vehicles in Australia consumed 31,186 million litres of fuel, compared with 28,898 million litres in 2006. Of the total fuel consumed by motor vehicles in 2010, 58.1% was petrol and 35.6% was diesel.

Passenger vehicles consumed 18,431 litres of fuel in 2010, of which 84.1% (15,497 million) was petrol.

Light commercial vehicles consumed a total of 5,546 million litres of fuel in 2010. Of this, diesel accounted for 48.1% (2,665 million) followed by petrol with 43.5% (2,410 million).

A total of 6,403 million litres of fuel was consumed by rigid and articulated trucks. Diesel was the main fuel type (98.6%).

Total Fuel Consumption, Type of fuel - Year ended 31 October 2010

The average rate of fuel consumption for all motor vehicles in 2010 was 13.8 litres per 100 kilometres. Of all vehicle types, articulated trucks had the highest average fuel consumption with 56.2 litres per 100 kilometres.

Average fuel consumption, Type of vehicle - Year ended 31 October 2010